I had a Weihenstephaner(sp?) Hefe Weissbier last Monday that was poured into a 16 oz coffee paper cup (didn't have much else to pour into at the time) that tasted like that. This was my first time drinking a real German Hefe and it had the bubble gum aftertaste. The notes hit me directly and it wasn't even funny. In fact, my eyes popped out when saw this thread. I really enjoyed this beer. FWIW, I poured at room temperature. I'd drink it again. Since I am new at serious beer, I wasn't sure if this is how hefes were supposed to taste. Today I actually had a pint of their "Vitus" Weizenbock also at room temperature poured into a regular beer mug at home. This beer was also delicious and had a pretty similar flavour profile to that of the Hefe. However, this one felt slightly more robust.
I've noticed it on occasion but would not say it is the most common flavor. I actually think the strongest bubblegum notes I've had were in Ovila Dubbel and Ovila Quad with Plums, neither of which is a weissbier (obviously). Not unpleasant, just weird given what the beers are.
"Bubblegum" flavors in wheat beer are the result of chemical byproducts of the fermentation, as are the commonly perceived flavors of banana (amyl acetate) and cloves (4-vinyl guaiacol). It's all esters and phenols - products of the yeast. The flavors contributed by the wheat are different. Hefeweizen yeasts often share characteristics with yeasts used in Belgian brewing. You taste bubblegum and banana and cloves in some trappist-style beers because the yeast doing the fermentation is producing the same compounds as the yeast fermenting a German wheat beer.
When I taste something like candy in Hefeweizen it tastes more like Necco wafers to my palate, but yes, I can see bubblegum.
I get fluoride in sub-standard Hefes. Maybe this is a result of some awful, buried memory from my childhood of a dentist using bubblegum flavored fluoride treatments. I know what you mean though.
In my opinion, perceiving bubblegum in a hefeweizen is a personal palate issue. Years ago one of my favorite hefeweizen beers was Tucher. All I taste in that beer (and other hefeweizen beers) is a combination of banana and clove. I was drinking a Tucher at a bar in a ‘fancy’ hefeweizen glass when a buddy asked: what is that? I replied: Tucher, it is a German wheat beer? He asked for a taste so I handed over my ‘fancy’ glass. He took a sip and immediately proclaimed: it tastes like bubblegum. To which I replied: no it doesn’t, it tastes like banana and clove. I think that for some people the flavors of banana and clove gets ‘processed’ as being bubblegum. I have consumed many, many different hefeweizen beers and I have never perceived bubblegum; my personal palate is ‘wired’ to perceive a combination of banana and clove. Cheers!
as some had already said, it has to with the yeast used in hefe's and you will find them in a number of them. I've found these flavors both on tap as well as in bottles.
Back before I was really into craft beer, right when I was branching off from Guinness I had a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse. For a little while I was telling all my friends " It tastes like bubblegum!!". Odd how now my taste has developed and now it isn't as prominent as back then, but there were so many flavors I never picked up on.
I've gotten it more with some hefeweizens and less with others. The most profound example I've ever had was Hitachino Nest.
Funny how bubblegum is considered desirable in a Hefe, but an off-flavor produced by usually too warm a fermentation in almost anything else...nothing complex about bubblegum, IMHO.
